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Tag: TALKTOOLS THERAPY

Ask A Therapist: Why Use the Term “Oral Placement Therapy” (OPT) over “Oral Motor Exercises”?

We received the below from a therapist that works in the Academic arena and wanted to share the response. I am interested to know why you changed the terminology you use from Oral Motor Exercises to Oral Placement Therapy? Thank you for your question. Oral–motor is a term that is still widely used in our field. It is appropriate to […]

Ask A Therapist: Down Syndrome & Feeding

Hello, my daughter is almost 2 years old and has Down Syndrome. We had the opportunity to meet Lori Overland when my daughter was about 9 months old. I feel so fortunate to have found TalkTools while my daughter was very young, although we still have some struggles. Our OT is familiar with TalkTools and […]

4 YEARS 1 MONTH: WORKING ON SPEECH ACCURACY AND CLARITY

We love working with Monica at TalkTools! She is full of knowledge and experience. When a speech issue comes up with Belle, and I am viewing it as a really big problem that we are going to be stuck on forever, Monica handles it so gracefully and gives me hope. She has years of experience with oral motor therapy […]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BELLE!!! 4 AND STARTING PRESCHOOL!

Belle is 4! It’s crazy to believe that we just celebrated her 4th birthday. This little gal is full of life, and we are so proud of her. Belle also started preschool this month. She goes three mornings per week, and is in a class with 11 other students, all of whom are typical kiddos. […]

DIET-SHAPING FOR SELF-LIMITED DIETS IN CHILDREN WITH A DIAGNOSIS OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

This article was initially presented at the 2016 Annual ASHA Convention, Thursday, November 17, 2016, 4:30-5:30 PM. It is available in video in full on Facebook: Part 1 / Part 2 Authors: Robyn Merkel-Walsh MA, CCC-SLP Lori Overland MS, CCC-SLP/C-NDT Learner Outcomes: 1. Participants will have an improved understanding of the etiology of a self-limited. 2. Participants will be able […]

3 YEARS 10&11 MONTHS: GETTING BACK-TO-SCHOOL AFTER DISNEY WORLD MAGIC

3 Years 10 Months Summer continues in our household! This month, Belle has enjoyed swimming lessons (and lots of pool time), a slip’n slide party, BBQs, fairs, a trip to the lake, and a full week at Walt Disney World! While our hearts may be full, our routine is not. 🙂 However… Belle continues to do […]

Success Story: Colter & Vanessa

In April of 2015, I received an e-mail about a little boy with Down syndrome named Colter. His mother was desperately seeking help…he couldn’t chew his food and she was at her wits end trying to figure out how to teach him. Even though this is “speech therapy,” his actual speech was not an issue […]

3 YEARS 8&9 MONTHS: SHE IS READING!

3 Years 8 Months Belle got her palatal expander out this month! Her “princess jewelry,” as we referred to it, was in for a total of six months. Even though her speech didn’t improve as substantially as I had hoped, it was still a success overall. Belle proudly states, “me got my princess jewelry out […]

3 YEARS 6&7 MONTHS: WHAT “WORK” LOOKS LIKE

3 Years 6 Months   This month I decided to include videos of Belle doing her oral motor exercises. They are not super exciting videos, but that’s what “work” looks like sometimes. I know we have to put in the time to see the results. And as I have said so many times previously, it’s […]

Success Story: Lily & Vanessa

LILY, 3 YEARS 4 MONTHS OLD, UNILATERAL CLEFT LIP AND PALATE When I saw that my former supervisor from my job during college and graduate school was adopting another special needs child from China, I was glued to their journey (the family had adopted a boy with cleft lip/palate from China previously). I watched from my computer screen […]